this is it, folks. it'll keep picking up hour after hour. you will be on your own when you figure it out. >> like, hey, i shouldn't be here. hey, i need help, and help is not coming. >> it's going to take us hours, if not days, to be able to come to you. >> this is unlike anything we have seen before. >> no matter where you are, you will experience the power of this storm. godspeed to all of us that are in the path of this storm. hurricane milton is

closing in on florida. the state is already seeing damage and the hurricane hasn't even made landfall yet. with that we say, good afternoon, i'm kristen sze and i'm dan ashley. >> thanks for joining us. now this storm has lost some strength, but keep in mind it is still a powerful category three storm. here's a live look at the florida gulf coast, which is being battered by hurricane milton. tonight. >> you can see bradenton with the palm trees just being battered so hard and uh- tampa. that is with the bridge right there on your right. also hard hit there are the high winds, which you can probably see from the way the rain is being whipped sideways. very heavy rain certainly winds and even tornadoes. >> abc news reporter jacqueline lee joins us live from tampa tonight, where conditions are really going downhill very fast. jacqueline. >> that's right, kristen and dan, you can see the wind and the and the rain really whipping around behind me. as hurricane milton gets closer, we are

expecting landfall a little bit later tonight. and of course things are going to get very dangerous when that happens. hurricane milton closing in on the west coast of florida, rain and wind already being felt. the storm's outer bands spawning several tornadoes throughout the state. home security footage capturing this possible tornado tearing through a neighborhood in fort myers, leaving a trail of damage. the massive storm, expected to bring a record breaking storm surge of 8 to 12ft for the tampa bay and fort myers areas, and even bigger storm surge of 10 to 15ft is expected into sarasota and south. water beginning to cover streets in sarasota. >> hurricane milton is going to be a deadly and catastrophic storm. it will bring massive storm surge, high winds and severe flooding resources assembled to respond. >> utility crews on standby, anticipating widespread power outages, president biden and vice president harris both

briefed on the situation this afternoon. >> people of florida and all the impacted states, we've got your back. we've got your back. and kamala and i will be there for as long as it takes to rescue, recover and rebuild 24 hours. it's a matter of literally a matter of life and death. >> millions warned to evacuate and many listened, some packing what they could going to shelters. >> everybody's worried about the same thing. you know. do you have a home to come back to or, you know, that nature, the sunshine skyway bridge over tampa bay closed. >> people fortified their homes, buttoned up the best we could, and we got out of there. >> one homeowner literally tying down his home using heavy duty straps. and fema says more than a thousand responders are ready with food and water, as well as search and rescue teams in tamp. jacqueline lee, abc seven news. all right, jacqueline, we know the emergency responders will be ready to go. you know, but you kind of have to wait this out

first. let it pass. same with the utility crews with all the power outages. what are you seeing out there right now? i imagine they're not actively out, but they're staging. correct. so right now there is no one out on the roads, especially now that it's dark and the storm is coming through. but we do know that there are plenty of responders in those linemen, as you mentioned, for when we are expecting to lose power that are ready to jump into action. but officials made it very clear the safest place to be is either at a shelter or having evacuated further north, because first responders will not be able to get to people when it's too dangerous. when you're dealing with this wind and the rain and the storm surge, guys. >> all right, jacqueline, thanks so much. stay safe there. and of course, if people have not evacuated by this point, it is simply too late. you have to shelter in place bay area rescue teams have been deployed to florida to help with the response to hurricane milton. these photos are from california task force three. that's an urban search and rescue team based in menlo park. a 26 person ground crew left yesterday with trucks of supplies. several members are from san francisco

fire department, which also sent four search dogs to the storm zone. >> what these dogs do is they search for people and if they get a hit, they're able to locate a person. and then the use our teams would go in and breach concrete or lift heavy wooden objects off of someone that may be trapped concrete breaching and heavy lifting were two of the exercises the san francisco fire department practiced today at their training facility on treasure island to get ready for what is probably going to be needed in florida. >> they held an urban search and rescue drill with members of the military who are in town for fleet week. >> you're looking live once again, right here. a live picture from florida. this is bradenton. this is south of the sarasota area. but you can see, even though it's probably a little south of where it's going to make landfall, the effects of the storm. >> let's go to abc seven news meteorologist sandhya patel. she is tracking milton very closely. sandhya? yeah. >> dan and kristin. this is from the national hurricane center.

came down just seconds ago. the northern eye wall is starting to move in between tampa and saint petersburg. you can see the conditions just deteriorating with the rain going sideways. the winds blowing. they've already seen damage from wind, rain and tornadoes. here is milton live doppler seven showing you that eyewall moving on shore. we do have tornado watch boxes for parts of florid. right now it is packing 120 mile an hour winds. it is a category three moving to the northeast at 15 miles an hour. so let me show you its track as a category three, expected to continue to move on shore, making landfall, weakening to a one, and then eventually to a depression heading into thursday night and friday. rainfall half a foot to a foot. some areas up to 18in. the storm surge could be historic. we're talking up to 13ft, that is, of course, concerning. there are watches and warnings up for much of the florida area. so this is going to be a storm that is going to

produce life threatening conditions in the area. kristen. >> all right. thank you. sandhy. researchers do believe that rising ocean temperatures are combining with a local marine heat wave in the gulf of mexico to give hurricane milton extra punch. that ocean warming trend has accelerated over the past decade. peter roopnarine is with the california academy of sciences in san francisco. he says climate experts are still working to understand the full impact. >> we'll have to go through a period of learning what the new hurricane seasons look like, what frequencies look like, how to modify our predictions, and what makes a busy season and what makes a quiet season, and also how rapidly the conditions of the storms can change. now, as we have changing ocean conditions here in the bay area, marine heat events are already being linked to changes including the migration of marine species from the bay area to baja california.

>> voters in eastern contra costa county will decide a measure to provide a permanent source of clean drinking water to excelsior middle school in byron, the well for that rural school off highway four has collapsed, and the school district says measure r would rebuild it. >> abc seven news reporter anser hassan shows us what's happenin. >> superintendent of the byron union school district, crystal castaneda, didn't think doing research on water wells would be part of her job, which we have to run, maintain and make sure is always up to standard in rural school districts like byron, deep in eastern contra costa county, surrounded by farmland, well water is excelsior middle school only source of water, but this well is decades old. first the pump broke. then they discovered leaking pipes and the well is deteriorating and caving in on itself. >> and so that well has been deemed no longer a good source for water. >> the water is safe for students to wash their hands, but not safe to drink. there is bottled water for students and refill stations around the

campus. a new water well would cost upwards of $1 million, a huge figure for a small distric. so on the ballot is measure r, a school bond measure trying to raise $24 million. >> this is a time when it makes sense for us to go for it because of the need. >> the money raised by measure r would fix more than just excelsior's water. well, some of the buildings at the three schools in the district are 40 years old. this classroom is sinking. the door has to be trimmed so it opens. measure r money would help to modernize classrooms, improve technology and beef up security measures. but those opposed to measure r, like the contra costa taxpayers association, are concerned about the millions of dollars in debt the district currently holds from the previous bond measure. but parents like the crowe family say students need a better education. >> this is crazy. we are about an hour away from our capital and this district doesn't have water for, you know, for this school. >> they don't like the idea of

more taxes, but say it would just be under $200 annually for those living in homes over $800,000. they feel that measure r has the necessary oversight built in to make sure there's accountability. >> it has to pass, or they won't have clean water, and the school will continue to sink and the roof will leak. so i don't know what we'll do if it doesn't pass in. >> byron anser hassan, abc seven news. >> san jose mayor matt mehan got some strides in this morning. he took the part in a walk to and bike to school day. the mayor walked to kipp collegiate high school to highlight the newly improved route to campus. students there worked with city hall to pass an ordinance creating an rv buffer zone, moving oversize vehicles farther away. >> students told us they felt unsafe. they had had break ins, drug paraphernalia, just a lot of challenges just getting on and off campus. and we have a responsibility for ensuring that all of our young people feel safe going to school. >> right now, the rv buffer zone

is a pilot program with kipp collegiate and two other schools. but mayor mehan says san jose hopes to expand it citywide once there's enough money in the budget to provide more resources for those living in rvs. >> san francisco mayor london breed and other city officials are celebrating the grand opening of a new 100% affordable housing project on treasure island this afternoon. a ribbon cutting ceremony was held at star view court, a seven story housing project which is reserved for low income residents. many of the residents of star view are formerly unhoused people who live on the island. >> i am so excited that this is going to be one of the best neighborhoods in san francisco because of the investments we've made and because of projects like the one today. so thank you and congratulations. we're looking forward to more to come. >> the overall redevelopment plan will bring 8000 units. 2200 of those will be affordable housing units. san francisco could soon be home to a new

gondola system. yep. the county transportation authority approved a $170,000 funding source to study how a gondola system could impact the city. it would transport people between laguna honda hospital and the forest hill light rail station. the study would also consider other gondola locations in the city. a lot more to come here. >> bart stations targeted by vandals. the damage done and what officials are saying about it. regulating social media. the moves underway that could change how it's used. and vegas one step closer to an a's stadium ♪ jardiance! -it's a little pill with a ♪ ♪ big story to tell. ♪ ♪ i take once-daily jardiance ♪

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and you can check out right now a live picture from key west. you know, that's not close to where it's going to make landfall, but the whole state is very affected. so winds, storm surge, and you can see people are actually out taking photos as the waves crash, as they face that storm surge coming their way. milton is category three storm right now with sustained winds of 120mph. that is not a good idea, so i hope those people are all going to be okay. >> yeah, they should be. most of the storm has passed where they are still not a great idea to get that close, but you know,

people want to get a look i guess. but we'll get a really close look now at what's going on. this storm is just terrible. meteorologist sandhya patel is tracking that. and of course, our local forecast. yeah. >> and dan and kristen, this is going to be a historic storm. let's take a look at our local weather now. 14 degree drop in fairfield and san carlos. it is certainly cooler than where we were yesterday. by ten degrees. napa concord san jose. looking at the winds, they are onshore 15 miles an hour at sfo. we are seeing a lot of cloud cover on live doppler seven, not just the fog, but the higher clouds as well. looking at the wider picture here, so there are a couple of systems lined up. this first one here is just sending us a lot of cloud cover. there's another one coming that's going to bring us the opportunity for some wet weather. here's a live view from a fogged in golden gate bridge 61 right now in the city, 67 in oakland, you are in the 70s around san jose, redwood city chilling in half moon bay at 59 degrees from our san jose camera. we are seeing filtered sunshine low 80s in santa rosa, petaluma. you're getting a good

breeze along with napa 70s mid 80s concord, fairfield, 83, in livermore from our walnut creek camera seeing filtered sunshine tomorrow, a combination of fog and high clouds. just like tonight, friday we have that fall feel near average temperatures and on saturday we do have a chance of showers. best possibility in the north bay. i don't think you have to worry about it for fleet week festivities. so let's talk about this. mild with a mix of sun and clouds for friday 71 degrees. now saturday that system will squeeze out a little bit of drizzle in the morning, but by the time the air show gets underway, things should be okay. partly cloudy, breezy, and then clouds to sun on sunday and 69 degrees going hour by hour. some high clouds continuing to stream in fog down below that continues tonight. tomorrow morning we start out with a combination of the two and then as the evening goes on, those clouds will begin to push on out of here. there will be some patchy fog left behind. your morning temperatures anywhere from the 50s to the 60s. i think the cloud cover will insulate us a bit, so we're not expecting good radiational cooling. but this

morning, did you feel it when you woke up and got outside? it felt like fall. it was a nice crispness to the air. low 60s to the mid 80s. tomorrow afternoon a mix of fog, sun and high clouds. we're going to fast forward to saturday. here comes the system. it brings rain to northern california saturday morning. we have an opportunity for some showers in the north bay. saturday at 8 a.m. could be a little bit of drizzle near the coast. and then really the system starts to lift and stays well to our north northern part of our viewing area. could still see a shower or two in the afternoon. looking at the rainfall projections, this pretty much reflects it. nothing measurable in most areas, but the north bay. looking at a few hundredths, up to a third of an inch up in ukiah. here's your accuweather seven day forecast. we are going with really a mix of sun and clouds and mild weather through much of the workweek and into the weekend. chance of showers in the north bay saturday will bring back those temperatures up a little bit on sunday and you will notice near average, not a whole lot of change going into next

week. dan. >> okay, sandra, thanks very much. thanks. a lot of parents are concerned about how much time their kids spend online or in front of a computer screen. and tonight, california's first partner, jennifer siebel newsom, has introduced a new initiative to promote tech life balance. abc seven news reporter monica madden explains how california is working to protect kids online. >> california lawmakers continuing the fight to make social media safer for kids. this week, another legal battle against social media giant tiktok. attorney general rob bonta looking to curb so-called manipulative features on the ap. >> they have built a business model centered on exploiting young people's time, attention and well-being. >> the lawsuit says. tiktok deceptively claims features like beauty filters, endless scrolling and push notifications are safe for youth. a tiktok spokesperson telling abc news the company strongly disagrees, saying, quote, we're proud of and remain deeply committed to the work we've done to protect teens and will continue to

update and improve our product. parents aren't convinced. i feel like that's one of the challenges wednesday afternoon. first partner jennifer siebel newsom unveiling a new initiative to help families find what they're calling tech life balance. >> again, from my own bottom of my heart, we've been wanting to do this for a really long time. >> she hosted a roundtable with parents and representatives from big tech companies to talk about how families can better manage their children's online activity. >> this is a public health crisis. >> it's designed to complement legislation her husband signed last september, designed a path forward together, where we each do our part to ensure that we take care of not just california's children, but the world's children. >> social media design features push this information at you. >> senate bill 976, authored by senator nancy skinner, bans social media apps from providing so-called addictive feeds to minors without parental consent. >> the bill it does not limit content, but what it stops is that sending you without your

even expressing an interest, things about how to commit suicide, things about binging and purging, you know, bulimia, all that. >> siebel newsom hopes the family guide will empower parents to find a balance with their kids, while legal battles and laws regulating social media continue to play out in san francisco. monica madden, abc seven news. >> in the south bay, the teach for america ignite tutor program is coming to help third grade students at two high need schools. >> as abc seven news south bay reporter dustin dorsey explains, the investment is key to building a better bay area for students and also the community. >> elementary school creates a foundation for learning, with all roads stemming from the literacy lessons students absorb here, and studies show one grade in particular is key in determining future success. >> children who are not reading proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school for low income latino and african american students if they are not proficient readers by third

grade, they are eight times more likely to drop out of high school than proficient readers. >> many of the students in the franklin-mckinley school district are part of that demographic, including here at robert f kennedy school in san jose. and thanks to an investment from the city and santa clara county. teach for america's ignite tutor program will now help bridge the learning gap for 8-80 third grade students whose path to literacy has been complicated by the pandemic, both here and at g.w. hellier school. >> i want to make sure that with this program, we're not only just igniting minds and bodies and souls, but we're igniting opportunities. >> opportunities created from high impact tutoring for math and reading. undergraduate ignite fellows lead the one on one or small sessions for 30 minutes, 2 to 3 times a week during the school day. the program has led to positive outcomes for 94% of students in partner schools across the country. >> it is our responsibility to do everything in our power to accelerate learning for our students and the ignite program has proven to be an effective

way to do this. >> $160,000 in grant funding from the city and county makes this possible. mayor matt mehan was a teach for america corps member before taking office by investing in this program, he says, our region is committing to not just pass students along from grade to grade without the skills they need. >> every child in our community deserves a high quality education. they deserve to have the support they need to be on grade level, and to have access to all of the incredible opportunity our valley has to offer. >> igniting a love of learning for the minds that will one day build a better bay area in san jose. dustin dorsey, abc seven news. >> still ahead here. finding happiness some of the best places in the bay area. >> and later, a lifetime love of star wars leads to and research on pain relief, my recommendation is simple: every home should have salonpas.

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bart stations. it comes as the agency tries to improve the rider experience, but the trail of damage tells a different story and an unbelievable mystery. from seven on your side, it's all centered on a manila envelope filled with fraud

as you can imagine, abc seven news anchor dion lim is here with more on the story. dion, dan and christine. >> these canopies not only serve a purpose, they are also there for beautification. the vandalism took place along the market street corridor and nearly every bart rider i spoke with today said the same thing. they are disappointed to see new improvements at four stations. take a step backward. >> i've just taken muni my whole life, so i feel really passionate about it. it just sucks to see someone just destroy the city one after another, after another. >> in total, more than a dozen panes of glass spread across four bart station canopies along market in san francisco. smashed. >> i have friends coming into the city and bringing them in, kind of having to make them look away. >> reporter the destruction

includes not just the cracked panes, but shattered schedule boards like these at montgomery station. according to bart. it most likely all took place over the weekend. the canopies, according to state law, are required to protect the outdoor escalators. they're part of a $64 million project. work began in 2020 to build 21 canopies, and was expected to take seven years. so far, ten have been completed. >> i think it's a shame to know that, you know, the city puts in so much effort and honestly, just to see it get vandalized like that. >> bart officials wouldn't speak on camera wednesday about the smashed canopies. they pointed us to a press release with their latest safety numbers, which they say shows a 15% reduction in overall crime from last august to this august. the shattered canopies, while just broken glass, did not give riders much comfort. >> it should be clean and safe in my opinion, and sometimes, yeah, it's disappointing to see. >> amber hasselbring of the nonprofit nature in the city, partnered with bart and the city back in 2021 to bring living

rooftops and butterflies to the market street corridor at montgomery and powell street stations. >> the more activity and attention that is downtown, the less vandalism is likely. so we'd like to see if we can play a part in that nature. >> and the city continues to raise the $200,000 needed for their project. the cost to replace the dozen or so panes of glass, likely in the tens of thousands of dollars. so far. bart police have no suspects, and the investigation is ongoing in san francisco. dion lim abc seven news. >> all right. seven on your side has a long history of helping consumers, and today we have got one of the wildest cases ever. you got to see this, truly. >> it began when a self-described hacker mailed a package to seven on your side, confessing to a crime. seven on your side's stephanie sierra has been following this long, winding trail. it's stunning what you found. it really is. >> you know, this story is many months in the making. and to be honest, we didn't know what to

think when we saw the contents of this packet. was this letter a real confession or possibly just a prank? oddly, it did seem that this so-called hacker wanted our help and sent this package directly to seven on your side. now, it came from someone going by the mysterious name kilian rose. he claimed he took out a bank loan using someone else's identity and he stuffed the envelope full of the victim's personal information, which he called proof of this fraud. we tracked down the victim, and it turned out to be a longtime uc berkeley staff member who lives in brentwood. his name? sujato. he was shocked to see someone mailed us all of his personal information. and he confirmed someone did take out a loan in his name. >> they said, oh no, there's a personal loan under your name. and i was like that definitely wasn't me. it was surreal. it was surreal for sure. >> seven on your side followed the clues which took us overseas and back through many twists and turns. tonight at 630, who

really sent that packet? we'll show you what we found in the truth. may surprise you. now, this story is not only shocking, but it does highlight an important lesson about identity theft and the protections we have here in california. >> we look forward to your piece. it's just a remarkable story. >> eye opening. thanks to you. thank you steph. a big blast in vegas. and are you in a happy zone?

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is the end of an era on the las vegas strip. early this morning, the tropicana las vegas was reduced to rubble. this paves the way for the new a's stadium. not for certain, but it does. it's one step. the team's owner, john fisher, spoke before they dropped the trop. >> it is really a pleasure to be here. this has been a long time in coming. we've really started working on our stadium effort.

you know, 18 years ago. >> and there it goes. >> the a's hope to start playing in las vegas in 2028. i mean, this is a significant step. all right. but chris there are a lot of other hurdles still in the way, namely the financing. >> yeah. and that's kind of big. kristen yeah, the financing is huge. but it was i think you emphasized the right words, hope and maybe and i think that's where we're at right now there where they are far from putting a shovel on the ground. and interesting to see john fisher actually speak. i didn't know he did that. >> well, it should go smoothly. i know we never see him in front of a camera. it should go smoothly. every other step of this process has been easy peasy, right? chris. >> yeah, it's a historic move today by the ncaa that's going to shake up college sports. >> it put an end to the national letter of intent program after 60 years. it served as sort of like a contract between prospective athletes and the universities recruiting them. the ncaa is planning to replace the system with a new financial

aid agreement that is said to be similar. obviously, chris, let's go to you with this. i don't fully understand the details, but what do you make of it? was it a problem that needed to be fixed? >> i think it's just now with the nil and the transfer portal, it's just kind of the wild, wild west. so i think there that goes because now they're in such a phase of like this, we don't know really what all this is. we're learning along the way. and so the national, all those letters of intent really don't mean anything when they're broken up, because you're not getting any playing time, and you and you move on or a coach leaves. >> so i was going to say, are our colleges not recruiting from high schools as much or putting as much into that now because of it as well? >> i think it really depends on the program and the scenario. i think it's case by case, team by team and sport by sport. so it is a lot different, though when you have players that have been are older and very and a little more established, you might want to grab for the portal compared to grabbing high school kids that aren't right there yet. yeah, exactly. >> all right. hey, your

happiness could depend on where you live. and here in the bay area, we've got it pretty good. several local counties ranked among the happiest in the state. according to a survey released by lawmakers. marin county is number two behind alpine counties south of lake tahoe, santa cruz, san mateo and contra costa counties all rank in the top ten, and we have, what, 58 counties, you guys? yeah. so that's yeah. so that's pretty good. >> you guys look at us and we have great weather. i mean how could you go wrong. >> yeah. great weather, great outdoor activities right. dan you go hiking. oh, yeah we do. >> we're spoiled here. we have so many love. there isn't a bad community in the bay area. >> we have so many wonderful landmarks, foods, sports, entertainment. if we get those prices down, the cost of living, that would make me a lot happier. >> that is the one big blemish for sure. all right. well, the battle of the bellies is over with a brown bear repeating as champion of fat bear week, the bracket style competition allows online voters to choose a chubby champ in alaska's katmai national park. grazier won with twice as many votes as any other

bear. this is live from katmai, where you can keep watch on the bears anytime in that cool. that's a live camera, sandy, so you can check in on the park and the bears anytime you wish. i don't know if the bears know we're picking the fattest bear. >> oh, it's just amazing, dan, even if they don't know that we're watching. pretty cool stuff. >> yeah, and you know, anything that excites people about our national parks and about wildlife and gets people engaged, i think is a really great thing. >> agree. >> why am i thinking of those cal bears memes? >> i was going to say, as spencer would say, that bear that bear barely knows the camera. is there something like he'd say it way better than i, but he'd have a pun for it. >> he'd have about half a dozen and we wouldn't be able to bear them. >> oh. >> all right, that's this edition for the ford

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where the sun has gone down. we are hours from hurricane milton making landfall. it's getting very close now. milton is currently a category three storm with sustained winds of 120mph. heading right to the tampa sarasota area. the storm surge is also a big concern as this storm gets a lot closer now to making landfall. >> let's get details now and get the conditions with meteorologist sandhya patel. sandhya. yeah. >> kristen and dan, let's take a look at a live picture right now. this is from key west,

florida, where people are watching those big waves coming in. not a good idea. the storm surge is going to be historic as we take a look at milton, the latest from the national hurricane center. the northern eye wall starting to move on shore. you can see on live doppler seven between tampa and saint petersburg. area conditions are deteriorating. heavy rain, falling wind gusts have been as high as 77 miles an hour at the sarasota airport right now. live doppler seven here locally showing you some high clouds passing through the region. tomorrow afternoon we're going to see a mix of high clouds and fog down below. low 60s to mid 80s. a look at the accuweather seven day forecast. it does feature a mix of sun and clouds for your thursday. temperatures are going to drop off a few more degrees inland friday and saturday. saturday we have a chance of showers in the north bay. san francisco and the coast could see some drizzle after that. we're going to keep this mild pattern going well into the middle of next week. dan. kristen. very nice. >> sandy. thank you. as part of hispanic and latino heritage month, abc7 news is focusing on

people who have made great strides in their careers while paving the way for others as well. and tonight, we want to feature the vice president of animation production at lucasfilm. >> her name, athena portillo, and our very own lyanne melendez found out she is one with the force. >> it's not every day one gets to tour lucasfilm in san francisco's presidio with a top executive. >> i just loved film. i still to this day. >> we sat down with athena portillo, who was quick to point out the meaning of her first name, goddess of wisdom and war. >> what i usually say is, i'll outsmart you, and then i'll kick your butt. >> perhaps that's why, as a child, she identified with princess leia, one of the star wars characters. >> i actually do have photos of myself as an eight year old wearing a princess leia costume that my grandmother created for me. i remember watching empire strikes back in the theater for the first time, and developing my first crush on luke skywalker. >> so imagine, years later, that obsession turning into an

internship at lucasfilm and later shifting towards visual effects. >> i feel that pretty much was my upbringing asked for anything. it'll come to you if it's deserved. >> much like luke skywalker, who learned to have patience, know no different, only different in your mind, portillo credits her parents and grandparents with giving her the tools to learn and grow. >> always figure it out. i grew up with that. yeah, maybe that's why i have that mentality of always having a plan b, c, and d because i've always been told to figure it out. >> your grandfather moved from nicaragua? yes. to escape the somoza regime, he had to samosa like took all of his land, took everything that my grandfather

had built, the type of work ethic that they instilled in us, and the strength, i mean, we saw that give us a real challenge today. portillo is the vice president of the animation division for lucasfilm, a strong work ethic being detail oriented and organized and a bit of ocd is kind of like how i've mentored and trained the production team to be, and it means a lot to me when says, oh, your team is so buttoned up, they're so organized. portillo and her team have won numerous awards, and the hollywood reporter named her women in entertainment. power 100. even at that stage, she doubted her accomplishments and self-worth. >> i was questioning myself and someone actually said, oh, they probably just want you in there because they need a latina in that picture. and that hurt. but then of course, i had really nice people saying, are you kidding? you've been with the

company for almost 20 years. you've done so much. you've started off as an intern and now you do belong there. they actually they grabbed me from the shoulders. you do belong there. it's almost like that scene from airplane where they slap you. you do belong there. >> so what does that mean for other latina girls or, you know, just anybody, young women who are trying to get into the field. >> it has been awesome being asked to be at panels to talk about that very topic and how when i have young ladies coming up to me saying, if i could see that you can do it, that means that we can, as well. like you've opened a door that it is possible for any college graduate, portillo strongly recommends doing an internship while she graduated with a degree in journalism, she quickly found a passion for visual effects. >> you know, it's never too late to join abc7 news. i was a reporter that would be so cool. >> that has always been a dream. >> seriously. young and skilled, portillo says she would like to delve into other projects,

feature animation, live action television and video games would be great. >> every choice made. >> has led to this. >> i feel very lucky that i have the team at lucasfilm animation and i love my job. i say it every day. i feel very fortunate to have this. >> she's fantastic. >> what a great role model. right. all right, new details today about disgraced hip hop star sean diddy combs. >> just ahead, what he's asking for and the special tonight on the case right here on abc seven. y

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you did it! our cancer care team works together to care for all that is you. abbott elementary at ten. the secret life of did a special edition of 2020. then stay with us for abc seven news at 11.

disgraced hip hop star sean diddy combs wants to stand trial on his sex crimes charges next spring. tonight, we're taking a closer look at his case. abc news legal contributor brian buchmeyer has an inside look at tonight's 2020 special. the secret life of diddy at the heart of these allegations is not just one man. >> it's one man perpetrating allegedly some of these crimes, but a network of individuals helping to support and cover up some of these allegations. and i think as that case starts to unravel and unfold, many people are looking to see who else is going to be named, who else is involved, and how do they get away with this for so long? i don't want to give too much because you still have to check out the show today at ten. but ray j, as we all know, has his fingers in and out of the music industry and has been there for quite some time. he's giving an exclusive look in terms of the life and the partying of sean combs and what he himself says he saw and was involved in to some extent, and giving insight as to how people are going to

see sean combs going forward. again, this is about the secret life of diddy, and this is an attempt to try to reveal all or as much as we can. as this investigation continues on and you can watch the abc news 2020 special, secret life of diddy tonight at ten, right here on abc seven. >> abc seven news is streaming 24 over seven. get the abc seven bay area streaming tv app and join us whenever you want, wherever you are. and that's going to do it for abc seven news at four. abc seven news at news at four. abc seven news at five is coming your way next. chloe! hey dad. they will grow up. [cheering] silly face, ready? discover who they are. [playing music] what they want from this world. and how they will make it better. and while parenting has changed, how much you care has not. and the content they can see. ♪

now. >> the biggest concern of those that did not evacuate now is not the time to evacuate. for those that did not leave, unfortunately, we're going to have some some bad outcomes. >> hurricane milton is going to be a deadly and catastrophic storm right over, say, bradenton, sarasota and tampa bay. >> those are the heart of where we'll see